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Monday, October 22, 2012

Personal Reflections on AIDS 2012

by Thu Yain

photo courtesy of Youth LEAD

Youth advocate Thu Yain shares his experience of attending The MSMGF
Pre-Conference and this year's International AIDS Conference. Thu is a member
of The MSMGF's Youth Reference Group and board member at Youth LEAD in
Singapore.

AIDS 2012 was the first international conference that I have ever attended. It
was also the longest trip that I have taken in the past 26 years of my life. I
was very excited to be given the chance to attend a huge scale event with so
many learning opportunities.

I started my week long stay with The Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF) for
their Pre-Conference entitled, From Stigma to Strength: Strategies for MSM,
Transgender People and Allies in a Shifting AIDS Landscape. The Pre-Conference
was a day long affair to discuss issues affecting men who have sex with men
(MSM) and Transgender (TG) people, and how we can move forward as a community
in the HIV/AIDS response. I was most interested in the young MSM (YMSM) related
sessions.

One thing that impressed me when I entered the conference hall was the handmade
quilt for those who have died from HIV. It was part of a project called Quilt
in the Capital. I was interested in the numerous quilts displayed around FHI
360, the conference venue. Each quilt paints a personal story about someone who
has perished from the disease. These quilts remind me that for each
positive person, there are many other loved ones who are affected by their
loss. The HIV/AIDs movement is felt by everyone because the virus never
discriminates. These quilts encourage me to keep fighting on, to advocate about
HIV/AIDS, and hopefully end HIV discrimination one day.

From the YMSM break-out session that I attended, I realized that there are many
other young leaders around the world who work for their own communities. The
issues affecting each country and region were cross-cutting and similar. For
example, many young gay and bisexual men live in conservative societies and
face barriers in coming out safely and seeking sexual health services due to
stigma and discrimination. There is also lack of data on YMSM, making it harder
to reach out to the funders to support existing YMSM-specific services and
initiate new programmes. The government does not understand the importance of
reaching out to key affected populations. We need to work hard to develop
strong data on YMSM, which is aggregated by sub groups such as age, racial
groups, socio-economic status, etc.

With data, there is good evidence to prove to government, funders, and other
stakeholders that YMSM are one of the most vulnerable groups, and that they
need the most support and assistance. Homophobic bullying still exists in
schools around the world. This greatly affects the self-esteem of young men,
potentially leading to suicidal thoughts. Many YMSM thus do not feel the need
to care for their own health and future. This also affects YMSM judgment,
resulting in lack of negotiation skills when engaging older and commercial
partners for safe sex to protect themselves.

These issues and barriers were again echoed during the MSMGF Youth Reference
Group’s (YRG) meeting. The MSMGF Youth Reference Group helps advise and
coordinate the work of the MSMGF on YMSM issues. Each of the young leaders in
the YRG highlighted how YMSM are still vulnerable and need more support in the
HIV/AIDS response. Globally, the issues that were raised - stigma &
discrimination, lack of specific YMSM data, and the need to build leadership
for YMSM - were shared by all members at the breakout session. There was slight
variations based on the unique local cultures and characteristics, but, not
everything was negative. It was very encouraging to find out that various
programmes and services were already running in certain communities, and that
these programmes were reaching out and serving YMSM. For example, there are
great information, education, and communication (IEC) materials in Ireland. The
photos they use are actual young people from the community, and have language
that is youth-friendly. This reaches out to YMSM easily as they are able to
identify themselves with their peers in the photos. The friendly, accessible
messages are also easily understood by young people.

Although YMSM are a young key-affected population, we must not forget that
there are other young vulnerable persons. This message was given to me when I
assisted in the session hosted by Youth LEAD, Asia-Pacific Network of Young Key
Affected Populations (YKAP). This interactive session was held in the Youth
Pavilion. Engaging games allowed the participants to understand the issues
affecting YKAP, including YMSM. The ecological model of YKAP is a useful tool
to understand the roots of problems, and the way various factors interrelated
and affect the HIV/AIDS response, enabling us to tackle each issue in a
systematic way.

AIDS 2012 inspired me to work hard in achieving my goals of building an
inclusive, safe environment for YMSM. I want to see a society that does not
judge people by their sexuality or sexual preferences. Although there will
always be hurdles to overcome, we are never alone in this fight. I will always
believe in our work, and that the rest of society will eventually understand
us. With hard work, I trust we can achieve our dreams and hopes.
_________________________________________________________________________Biography

Thu Yain was born in Myanmar, but has called Singapore his home since he was
8 years old. He has been a HIV/AIDS advocate for the past two years. He
believes that every young person, especially young gay and bisexual men, should
be equipped with comprehensive sexual knowledge, and have affordable access to
sexual health services.

Thu has attended training in the field of HIV/AIDS and young
vulnerable/most-at-risk people conducted by UNICEF, UNFPA, and UNESCO. He also
completed a course in delivering quality technical assistance in advancing
human rights and gender equality in HIV response offered by UNAIDS, ActionAid
and TSF South Asia. He recently served as a workshop reviewer for AIDS 2012.

Thu is a member of Youth Reference Group with The Global Forum on MSM and
HIV. He is currently serving as a Board Member of Youth LEAD, a regional
network of young HIV/AIDS activists in Asia-Pacific. He is also a focal point
for Youth Voices Count, a network of young MSM and TG concerned about HIV/AIDS
in Asia-Pacific. Locally, he is a Senior Executive with SGRainbow, a social
group for young gay and bisexual men in Singapore.